Op de persconferentie na afloop van het pijnlijke gelijkspel tegen FC Volendam legde trainer Robin van Persie de vinger op de zere plek. Hij gaf niet alleen feedback aan zijn eigen ploeg, maar uitte ook forse kritiek op de arbitrage. "Hij gaat niet zomaar liggen en krijgt nooit iets mee."

De Rotterdamse band Tramhaus bestaat pas een kleine zes jaar, maar nu al spelen ze shows over de hele wereld. Door het internationale succes zijn ze steeds minder te vinden in de stad. Toch vinden ze het heerlijk om na wekenlang gitaren, drummen en zingen weer thuis te komen.

De Rotterdamse band Tramhaus bestaat pas een kleine zes jaar, maar nu al spelen ze shows over de hele wereld. Door het internationale succes zijn ze steeds minder te vinden in de stad. Toch vinden ze het heerlijk om na wekenlang gitaren, drummen en zingen weer thuis te komen.

In een oersaai duel heeft Sparta doelpuntloos gelijkgespeeld tegen NAC Breda: 0-0. Op een aantal spaarzame kansen na, creëerden beide ploegen nauwelijks mogelijkheden.

The opening three races of the 2026 season offered new track experience for the Alpine driver.

Some highlights from special collections libraries' blogs this week.
Backstage and Beyond with Sesame Street A Look Magazine photographer goes behind the scenes at Sesame Street before its debut.
Conservator as Mediator: Paper Mends on Eighteenth-Century Connecticut Newspapers A look at the repair work necessary to make delicate early newspapers usable for researchers.
Cat Shamans – The Fantastic Felines of Pre-Columbian Pottery
Marie Tharp, the Scientist who Mapped the Ocean Floor Tharp's work took plate tectonics from fringe theory to accepted science.

'Gargantuan,' melon-size hail may be more common than we realize. (WaPo gift link)

Let's face it, sometimes you're playing solitaire when you'd rather be playing another card game. Well, Gabe Kaplan can't make it today so break out a deck of cards and let Gather Together Games's Cole show you how to play Poker Solitaire (YT ~1.5 min.)

This is also called Poker Patience and sometimes Poker Squares, but that last one is more often used for the multiplayer version (it is Squares, plural, after all.) If you want a longer walkthrough, Solitaire with the Card Guy and Solitaire E-Man both have ten minute videos. First, in case you lost that card from your deck, a review of Poker hands:

          Hand | Example        | Compare by
          ----------------------------------
Straight flush | 9♣ 8♣ 7♣ 6♣ 5♣ | Highest card (Ace high = Royal Flush)
   4 of a kind | 5♣ 5♦ 5♥ 5♠ 2♦ | Quadruplet, remaining card
    Full house | 6♠ 6♥ 6♦ K♣ K♥ | Triplet, pair
         Flush | J♦ 9♦ 8♦ 4♦ 3♦ | Highest card, next highest card, etc.
      Straight | 9♠ 8♥ 7♦ 6♣ 5♦ | Highest card
   3 of a kind | Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ 9♥ 2♠ | Triplet, highest non-paired card, etc.
      Two pair | J♥ J♠ 3♣ 3♠ 2♥ | Highest pair, next pair, non-paired card.
      One pair | Q♠ Q♥ 8♠ 7♥ 4♣ | Pair, highest non-paired card, etc.
     High card | K♦ Q♦ 7♠ 4♠ 3♥ | Highest card, next highest card, etc.

Poker Solitaire Rules Summary

1. Uses a standard deck (no Jokers.)
   • Aces are high or low, depending on what best benefits each hand.
2. Deal 25 cards, arranging them as they are dealt into a 5x5 grid
   • You can adjust the grid on the fly, (e.g. the first card you put down may end up as the center card or a corner card.) You just can't move a placed card relative to other placed cards.
   • Sometimes it is stipulated that the cards must be adjacent to another as they are laid (e.g. you can't stake out the four corners first.)
3. Evaluate each column and row as a poker hand (ten hands)
   • Total the scores for the hands (see below)
4. A win is generally considered a score of 200 (US) or 70 (UK)

    Hand                 |    US  |   UK  |
    ---------------------|--------|-------|
    Royal/Straight flush | 100/75 |   30  |
    4/3 of a kind        | 50/10  |  16/6 |
    Full house           |   25   |   10  |
    Flush                |   20   |   05  |
    Straight             |   15   |   12  |
    2/1 pairs            |   5/2  |   3/1 |

The US scoring is based on the odds of the hands in Poker. The UK scoring is based on the odds in Poker Solitaire itself, e.g. putting Straights above Flushes in value. The UK system does not distinguish Royal Flushes, which is fair since other hands' high versions aren't rewarded in either system. David Parlett offered an alternate scoring system in Patience Games (1976) (borrowable from archive.org) which is pretty much another game in its own right. He has the player, after scoring their game, make the best possible arrangement from the cards given, and considering it a win if that score is less than twice theirs. The "For Dummies" series included the game in their Card Games for Dummies (2nd Ed.) and has that chapter online, including some helpful tips. They introduce an alternate scoring system by "co-author Barry," (essentially a melding of the US and UK systems) but the "US" one they cite is unique to that book. The earliest mention that I could find is as "Poker Patience" in Hoyle's Games Modernized (1909) where it was introduced to the series by Ernest Bergholt. It may be the origin of "UK Scoring" (it's the only scoring given.) The entry includes a multiplayer version (now usually known as Poker Squares) where one person plays while calling out the cards as they are drawn and the others create their own squares with their own decks. They compete for the best score (and "the losers pay the winners on an agreed scale,") but no consideration is given to what constitutes a 'win' in the single player version. Hoyle's Games (A. L. Burt Co.) was published in New York City in 1914, but the only scoring is the UK style. They suggest the player "get as near 100 as possible, or see how many can be made in five trials." (A hundred points under the UK system is a high bar.) It's in The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games (1949 NYC & Toronto) by Albert Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith that we get both scoring systems and the advice that "You may consider that you have "won the game" if you total 200 (American) or 70 (English)." This seems to have become the consensus. Todd Neller of Gettysburg College's Computer Science Department used a subtle variant of Poker Squares in a 2013 challenge. In this version (PDF) the grid is fixed and players write the cards in as they are announced (no adjusting the grid on the fly.) If you're interested in computational approaches to this problem, and can read Java, the code from the contest is still available. Serpent Poker Patience A Poker Solitaire variant introduced by Bergholt is Serpent Poker Patience. It uses the same rules as Solitaire (UK Scoring, natch) but has the 25 cards first dealt into a line. After consideration, the player then arranges them into the grid in the order dealt and laying each card vertically or horizontally next to the one last one played (in a serpentine fashion.) This is one for the visual thinkers. It would fun to do this one in a coffee shop: dealing a line of cards and staring at it for twenty minutes before quickly arranging them, making some notes, and gathering them back up. Maverick Solitaire A related game/curiosity is Maverick Solitaire. Its name comes from the TV show that popularized it back in the '50s, specifically in the first season episode Rope of Cards. Maverick Solitaire Rules Summary

1. Uses standard 52 card deck (no Jokers)
2. Deal 25 cards
3. Goal is to arrange the cards into five "Pat Hands" of five cards each. A pat hand is a hand that doesn't require any further cards:
   • Four of a Kind (Four cards of the same rank, plus any other card.)
     • Some variants disallow this hand (including the one in Rope of Cards)
   • Full House (three cards of the same rank and two cards of the same rank)
   • Flush (five cards of the same suit)
   • Straight (five cards in rank sequence)

While it sounds difficult, it's actually very doable. James D. McCaffrey explains (and links to some python code for solving similar types of problems.) Mark Masten brute forced it and determined that it's solvable about 98% of the time (just under if four of a kind is not allowed, just over otherwise.) In fact, the earliest mention of it that I'm aware of is by mathematician Leonard Eugene Dickson in Science (1922) where he found it noteworthy that he came up with a deal that is not solvable. 5 Card Draw Poker In-Hand Solitaire Game This one, from 2021, is by games designer John Burton, who is usually better at naming his games. It was designed on an airplane, so I'm going to call it... Airplane Poker Rules Summary:

1. Standard deck, Jokers optional
   • place a 5 of any suit at the bottom of the deck as your score card
2. Draw 5 cards
3. Determine if you will play or fold
   • There is no ante, folding is free
   • Can only fold 3 times in a row
4. Discard and redraw
   • Three times max
5. Determine hand value
6. Bet 1-3 points
   • Minimum increases for each redraw
   • Maximum is 3
7. Draw opponent's cards
   • Five cards plus one for each point you bet
8. Pick opponent's best 5
9. Determine the winner of the hand
   • Update the score card. If you reach ten, you win. If you reach 0, you lose

This plays a lot like draw poker, aside from the multiple redraws. It also plays well in-hand (it was designed on an airplane, after all.) I don't find the score card necessary, but if you use it simply keeping it face up makes it easy to find and move after shuffling. GHITY (Gotta Hand it to Ya) Perhaps the most recent Poker solitaire, this was posted by SamSpika just last August. GHITY Rules Summary

1. Uses a standard deck with two Jokers.
2. Draw 7 cards.
3. Discard or play up to five cards.
   • Three discards allowed per game.
   • Played hands can include unnecessary cards (e.g., three Aces with a 3 and a 5) as a stealth discard.
   • Draw back up to 7 cards.
4. Goal is to play all the poker hands except Four of a Kind (a Straight/Royal Flush isn't required, but helpful.)
   • High Card
   • Pair
   • Two Pair
   • Three of a Kind
   • Full House
   • Straight
   • Flush
   • a Straight/Royal Flush counts as both Straight and Flush
5. If you run out of moves, you've lost.

This works really well with a very simple ruleset. Assuming five cards played/discarded the max number of times you will use almost every card in the deck. It seems to be fairly well balanced, and has the satisfying tendency of coming down to making that last hand. Naturally, the "Pat Hands" are the toughest, so try for them first. GIN RUMMY What's that, you say? You're not not playing with Gabe Kaplan? You're not playing with Judy Holliday? I get it. You're a sophisticate. Fortunately, you still have options. A review of Gin Rummy terms:

• Meld: Three or more cards of the same rank, OR of consecutive ranks and matching suit
• Deadwood: Unmelded cards
• Gin: a hand consisting entirely of melded cards
• Knocking: Ending the hand early in the hope that you have less deadwood than your opponent.
• For scoring purposes, face cards are worth ten and other cards (including Aces) are worth their pip value

Solitaire Gin Rummy Surprisingly, the oldest Gin Rummy solitaire I could find was published in Games Magazine in 1998. While that issue isn't online, the author, Karen Deal Robinson, uploaded a scan of it. This was designed to be playable in-hand, and I've interpreted the rules with that in mind. (Robinson mentions a waste pile, which isn't necessary here.) Solitaire Gin Rummy Rules Summary:

1. Uses a standard deck with one Joker
   • The Joker is just a marker
2. Deal yourself ten cards.
3. Draw a card from the top of the deck and discard a card (can be same card) to the bottom.
4. If you make a gin hand, count the number of cards remaining until you hit the Joker. That number is your score.
5. If the Joker appears first, add up your unmelded cards' value. That is the Joker's score.
6. First to amass 100 points is the winner.
7. Optional rules
   • Knocking
     • Determine scores as above. Joker gets +25 for undercutting the knock, and you get a +25 for a gin hand.
   • Knock Card
     • The first card to the discard pile (back of deck) determines how few points you need to knock.

This does a good job of capturing the uncertainty of Gin Rummy, since you never know when the Joker will show up. Of course, it can show up in your initial hand and Robinson allows for reshuffling just the deck (plus Joker) if that happens, but it seems easier just to do an entire deck reshuffle. It works well as an in-hand game, although that initial ordering of your hand the way you prefer it can be slightly awkward. If you use the Knock Card rule and are concerned you'll forget what it was, flipping it around makes it easy to fan the back of the deck and find it. Games YouTuber SirThecos has an explanatory video. Note that he mistakenly says that Aces can be high; I suspect he's remembering that from a different form of Rummy. He also advocates shuffling the Joker into the back half of the deck "for a more balanced game." If I was going to do something like that, I think shuffling it into the middle half of the deck would be more realistic (that is, shuffle the Joker into one half, then cut the remaining half to place it.) Gimlet Rummy There's another Gin Rummy solitaire by John Burton (with a great name.) Oddly, it's not written anywhere I can find (not even on Burton's site) but YouTuber "Solitaire with the Card Guy" has an explanatory video. He says Burton sent him the rules, so that video may be the only documentation. Gimlet Rummy Rules Summary:

1. Uses a standard deck (no Jokers)
2. Deal yourself ten cards.
3. Play as in Gin Rummy, but with one discard pile for each suit
4. The hand ends when:
   • Any discard pile reaches six cards ("Going Sour")
     • Your virtual opponent gets the value of your deadwood plus 30 pts.
   • You go gin
     • You score ten points for each of the discard piles minus two points for each card in it (5 or 6 cards = 0 pts.)
     • You get 20 pts. for going gin.
     • Note that you get gin even if your discard is a sixth card.
5. First to 100 points wins.

I like the way this one has you effectively building your opponent's hand. If you've played Gin you know that feeling of needing to put down a card your opponent will undoubtedly snatch. The gin scoring seems a bit overdone; there's no reason to divy it up by suit and you could simplify it to something like "60 points minus 2 pts. for every discard." (That would actually ding you an extra two points for the sixth card, but simplicity has its price.)

OUDENAARDE (ANP) - Parijs-Roubaix komt nog te vroeg voor Demi Vollering, zei de winnares van de Ronde van Vlaanderen zondag na afloop van die wedstrijd. "We hebben voor nu ons plan gemaakt en we houden Roubaix in ons achterhoofd voor een ander jaar."

Bij het maken van het koersschema vroeg ploegleider Lars Boom al of ze Roubaix wilde rijden, aldus Vollering. "Hij zei: als je Vlaanderen wint, dan ga je." Maar de renster van FDJ United-SUEZ wil niet meer van haar planning afwijken. "Ik wil het ooit wel doen, maar ik weet niet of dit het jaar is."

De 29-jarige Vollering heeft dit voorjaar laten zien ook in de kasseienklassiekers goed uit de voeten te kunnen. Ze won naast de Ronde van Vlaanderen ook Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Vollering stond voorheen vooral bekend als specialist in de heuvelklassiekers en de grote rondes.

WASHINGTON (ANP) - De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump heeft gezegd dat zijn ultimatum aan Iran om de Straat van Hormuz te openen dinsdagavond afloopt. "Als ze tegen dinsdagavond niets ondernemen, zullen ze geen elektriciteitscentrales meer hebben en zullen er geen bruggen meer overeind staan," aldus Trump in een interview met The Wall Street Journal.

Later plaatste Trump een bericht op sociale media, zonder daarbij Iran of andere details te noemen: "Dinsdag, 20.00 uur Eastern Time!" (woensdag 02.00 uur Nederlandse tijd).

In een afzonderlijk bericht, eerder op zondag, had Trump al gezegd dat Iran te maken zou krijgen met aanvallen op de infrastructuur als het de zeestraat niet tegen dinsdag zou openen. Hij noemde daarbij echter geen specifiek tijdstip.

OUDENAARDE (ANP) - Tadej Pogacar kijkt na zijn overwinning in de Ronde van Vlaanderen uit naar de volgende koers. Over een week kan de Sloveen in Parijs-Roubaix geschiedenis schrijven door als eerste wielrenner ooit alle vijf de zogenoemde monumenten op rij te winnen. "De motivatie is hoog, de druk is laag", grapte Pogacar na de Ronde van Vlaanderen. "Net als de druk in de banden."

In Vlaanderen rekende Pogacar af met onder anderen Mathieu van der Poel. De Nederlander was de renner die het langst in staat was de wereldkampioen te volgen. "Er was niet veel tijd om te praten", zei Pogacar, die Van der Poel niet onderschatte. "Misschien blufte hij wel, misschien niet. Je moet daar altijd rekening mee houden."

Uiteindelijk wist hij Van der Poel op de Oude Kwaremont achter zich te laten. Van der Poel zei dat hij op dat moment 650 watt wegtrapte op zijn krachtmeter. "Ik weet het niet, ik zou later moeten kijken", zei Pogacar over zijn eigen waardes op die klim. "Ik denk dat we vandaag een van de beste beklimmingen van de Kwaremont hebben laten zien."

'Bijzonder toeval'

Terugblikkend op een incident in het begin van de wedstrijd sprak Pogacar van "een bijzonder toeval". Een trein hield een deel van het peloton tegen. Hijzelf zat bij het voorste deel van het peloton, dat door rood reed bij de spoorwegovergang. "Hoe kan je binnen een seconde stoppen?"

De Sloveen was ontevreden over het feit dat de kopgroep vervolgens gewoon door mocht rijden van de jury. Maar hij bedankte zijn ploeggenoot die het gat met de kopgroep controleerde. De openbaar aanklager van de provincie Oost-Vlaanderen heeft tegen persbureau Belga gezegd dat de renners die door rood reden vervolgd zullen worden.

OUDENAARDE (ANP) - Demi Vollering moest diep gaan in de finale van de Ronde van Vlaanderen, zei de Nederlandse winnares van de voorjaarsklassieker in het flashinterview na de wedstrijd. "Het was heel zwaar", zei Vollering. "Ik dacht alleen maar, ik moet zo hard mogelijk blijven gaan. Het lijden is eindelijk voorbij."

Vollering liet op de Oude Kwaremont, een kleine twintig kilometer voor de eindstreep, al haar concurrenten achter zich. "Ik moest ook wel want het team heeft het geweldig gedaan", zei de winnares over haar teamgenoten van FDJ United-SUEZ. "Soms zien mensen niet hoe belangrijk teamgenoten zijn. Zij zorgen ervoor dat je zo fris mogelijk in de finale komt."

"Ik heb dat moment vannacht zo vaak gedroomd", zei Vollering over de Oude Kwaremont. "Ik wist dat ik moest blijven pushen en niet achterom moest kijken."

Mentale gezondheid

Vollering wees in de slotkilometers naar haar hoofd. Naar eigen zeggen vanwege de internationale dag van de kalmte. "Het zit allemaal in je hoofd. Je moet erin geloven en alles geven", zei de Europees kampioen. Vollering heeft zich vaker uitgesproken over mentale gezondheid.

Zelf had ze naar eigen zeggen ook profijt van de dag van de kalmte. "Ik probeerde rustig te blijven in mijn hoofd in deze storm", zei Vollering, doelend op het hectische volksfeest dat de Ronde van Vlaanderen is.

OUDENAARDE (ANP) - Demi Vollering is zondag de zevende Nederlandse vrouw geworden die de Ronde van Vlaanderen heeft gewonnen. Op de Oude Kwaremont zette ze aan en niemand kon de Europees kampioen volgen. Het is de eerste Nederlandse zege in vijf jaar tijd.

De laatste kwam van Annemiek van Vleuten, die de Ronde net als Mirjam Melchers twee keer won. De andere Nederlandse winnaars waren Chantal Blaak, Anna van der Breggen, Ellen van Dijk en Marianne Vos. Vos was deze editie afwezig vanwege het overlijden van haar vader.

Het is voor Vollering de derde zege in een zogenoemd wielermonument. Ze won Luik-Bastenaken-Luik twee keer, in 2021 en 2023. Met haar eerste zege in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad liet de renster van FDJ-Suez dit voorjaar al blijken dat ze ook in de Vlaamse voorjaarsklassiekers kan winnen. Ze voegt nu de Ronde van Vlaanderen toe aan haar palmares.

Plants, toads, and mushrooms "can all produce psychedelic substances," writes ScienceAlert.

"And now their powers have been combined in one plant."



[S]cientists have taken the genes these organisms use to make five natural psychedelics and introduced them into a tobacco plant ( Nicotiana benthamiana), which then produced all five compounds simultaneously. As interest grows in psychedelics as potential treatments for illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD, the newly developed system could offer scientists a new way to produce these compounds for research purposes...

[P]rogress in this field remains limited, in part due to regulatory restrictions, underscoring the need for more research. This creates practical challenges for scientists. "Traditionally, the supply of psychedelics relies on natural producers, mainly plants, fungi, and the Sonoran Desert toad," the researchers write. "Harvesting these organisms for their psychoactive compounds raises ecological and ethical concerns, being increasingly threatened by habitat loss and overexploitation..."

[T]he team carefully monitored the plant's production of five psychedelic tryptamines: DMT originally from plants; psilocin and psilocybin from mushrooms; and bufotenin and 5-MeO-DMT from toads. The modified tobacco plants were found to produce all five compounds simultaneously.

The article points out that the researchers "also took it a step further." By tweaking the enzymes they were able to "produce modified versions of the compounds that do not naturally occur in plants, and which may also have therapeutic value."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Er is een leven voor en een leven na het moment dat je voor het eerst kijkend door een verrekijker de schoonheid van vogels ontdekt. Vogelaars blijven niet voor niets vaak hun leven lang verslaafd aan hun hobby: van het kijken naar vogels word je gezonder, zowel fysiek als mentaal. Wat is er zo leuk aan? 

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Kodak Ektar 100 with Mamiya 645 Pro and Sekor 35 mm

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